IS THERE A LACK OF CONFIDENCE IN THE MINISTRY?

Rev. Charles E. Newlin addressed the regular monthly meeting of Methodist preachers in Atlanta some time ago, and in the course of his address Mr. Newlin used the words: “I can prove by 99 per cent, of the business men of Atlanta that they lack confidence in the real, true manhood of the preachers of the city.”

The Rev. B. Frank White, in leaving the pastorate of the First Presbyterian Church, of Connellsville, Pa., is quoted as saying: “A man can’t be honest in the ministry and hold his job.” As Mr. White expects to remain in the ministry, although seeking another field, the inference is that he prefers a station where he can preach the Word in a style more in keeping with his conscientious scruples.

The writer is inclined to believe that both of the assertions above quoted are rather broad, if not more or less exaggerated. We believe that the great majority of ministers are honest, and are doing all in their power to advance the cause of religion here on earth; we also believe that there are some in the pulpit who have no right to be there. The vision they saw in the clouds, “G. P. C.,” meant not to "Go Preach Christ,” as they imagined, but to "Go Pick Cotton,” —South .Georgia Progress. *

♦ ♦ » •

Why Ministers Deserve Sympathy.

Christian ministers deserve considerable sympathy. They are at the present time in a very trying position. It is the conscientious ones who are in .trouble. Behind them are the creeds and theories of the Dark Ages, to which they are chained:

• (1) By the vows which they took at their ordination.

• (2) By the honor of their position in the sight of their friends and neighbors.

• (3) By their financial necessities and those of their families.

Ministers possessed of an education know not only that the creeds of the past are in conflict with each other and with reason, but also that those creeds are in conflict with the Bible. Better translations and older MSS. have shown us tne fallacy of deductions made by our forefathers. Every educated minister now knows that the Hebrew word translated "hell” in the Old Testament Scriptures, means the tomb—the state of death—the only hell that was known for four thousand years. They know that in our Common Version of the Bible this word Sheol is translated grave and pit more times than it is translated hell. They know that it never means and never did mean, anywhere, a place of fire and torture.

Baptist miniateis have gotten out a now Bible, in which they go to the trouble of translating this word Sheol by three English words, "the under-world.” This hides the truth from the average mind about as much as the mistranslation hell does. But it helps our Baptist friends a little in dealing with Sheol, for of course, in the grave, in the tomb, is in "the under-world.” Of course nobody thinks there is another world of living people in the center of the earth. It is only the dead that are in the under-world ■—in the tomb.

All educated ministers know further that the word Hades, in the New Testament translated heH, is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Sheol, and likewise means tho under-world, the tomb, the state of death or condition of death. The trouble with those ministers is that they know that their congregations are not generally aware of the truth on the subject, and they fear to tell those truths lest they should bo accused of having practiced deception in the past, when, as a matter of fact, they had simply taken from theologians of the Dark Ages what they in turn gave te the people, without examining tho ficripture proof.

Honesty to God and Religion Most Commendable

Another difficulty confronting these ministers is this: For the past twenty years the colleges of the United States, Great Britain, Germany, etc., have been teaching the Evolution Tlifeory—that man was not created in God’s image, that he was not in God’s sight "very good,” and that he did not fall down from Divine favor. It teaches, on the contrary, that he was an evolution from the ape, and

(Continued on page 2, column 1)

*J*HIS text has been made the basis for ⁴ some peculiar presentations. From it some have deduced an intermediate state lasting between death and the resurrection. Others have claimed it as an authority for the doctrine of Purgatory. The difficulty in every case seems to be the failure to remember that the Bible always and everywhere teaches that the dead are really dead, that they know nothing, and that, therefore, it would be impossible to do any preaching to the dead htynans. Undoubtedly the theory that people are more alive after they die than when they were alive, is responsible for nearly all the foolish things which we have all at some time professed tc believe.           ,

Before dismissing the thought that these “spirits in prison” are human spirits, let us note the fact that to say, “human spirits,” is an absurdity of itself, because human beings are not spirits, and spirit beings are not humans. “Who maketh His angels spirits” is the Scriptural proposition. True, we do sometimes speak of humans as possessing a spirit Of life, but by this we merely mean that they possess the power or energy of life, and the same Would, be equally true of the lower orders t>f creation, beasts, fish, fowl, etc.

Again, we sometimes speak of the Church as spirit beings—begotten of the Holy Spirit. Thus the Apostle speaks of the natural man in contrast with the New Creature, a spirit being. To appreciate this statement we must remember that the Church class receives the begetting of the Holy Spirit to the end that, if faithful, they may attain unto a spirit resurrection and become spirit beings, like unto the angels and like to the Redeemer. But we are fiot spirits yet, except by faith—by hope. However, the context shows that the Apostle had no reference to the Church, either; we were not in prison; we received the Message of salvation through the Apostles.

Spirits Once Disobedient.

The spirits to whom the message was given had proven themselves disobedient, says St. Peter. He even tells us the time of their disobedience, namely, that it was “in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing.” Surely, if noticing these particulars mentioned in the context, no one would be excusable for misunderstanding this Scripture and considering it in any way applicable to humanity of our day or to humanity in general. However, it is helpful to us to learn the full particulars of the matter. What was their disobedience, and when and how were they* imprisoned?

Turning to Genesis 6:1-5, we find there-the cause of the disobedience of those-angels, who for a time had been permitted to see what they could do for the uplift of humanity, or, rather, permitted to demonstrate that the downward tendency of sin is incurable except in the manner which God has already arranged for through Messiah and His glorious-reign of a thousand years.

Instead of those angels helping mankind out of sin they helped themselves into sin, and by so doing they increased the depravity amongst humanity, until the astounding record is that "the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thought of his heart was only evil continually.” The particular sin of those angels was-that when they were granted the privilege of materializing-^-of taking human, bodies for the sake of helping and instructing mankind—they misused this power and took to themselves the daughters of men for wives.

Thus these angels came gradually to prefer to live as men amongst men, and to rear earthly families, rather than to

*! WHERE ARE THE BEAiU

« This article was published in Vol. J 1, No. 3. The great demand for ■yj copies of it has been remarkable. A

■ sample copy will be mailed to any pt' one free. Address, Bible Society,. 13 hr

34 Craven Terrace, London, W.' abide in the condition in which they were created—spirit beings, higher than humans. Not only was this wrong in the sense that it was taking a course in opposition to the Divine arrangement, but it was wrong also because the thing was done for the cultivation and gratification of lust, and it led to their own moral defilement as well as having a baneful influence upon humanity; for we can readily see that for the angels, of superior powers and intelligence, to become leaders in lustful practices would mean a great influence upon mankind toward sin and defilement of mind and body.

We are particularly told that the offspring of this improper union between the angels and the daughters of men were giants, both physically and mentally superior to the fallen human family—“men of renown.” And this statement, that they were “men of renown,” was at a time when manhood’s estate was reached at a hundred years, and implies that God did not interfere to hinder or stop the progress of sin for perhaps several centuries. In the meantime the race had become so corrupt that app.arently only Noah and his family were uncontaminated—all others had more or less come under the influence, directly or indirectly, of these fallen angels or their giant sons. Hence, of Noah it was written (not that he was a perfect man, but), "Now Noah was perfect in his generation” (uncontaminated) and his family apparently the same. Hence these alone were saved in the ark, while all the remainder, more or less contaminated, were destroyed by the flood.

“In Chains of Darkness.'¹

It was then and there that God imprisoned those spirits, angels, who kept not their first estate, and are, therefore, called fallen angels, devils, demons. They were not imprisoned in some far-off world called hell, nor are they engaged there in stoking fires for the torture of poor humanity. Following the leading of the Scriptures we find that when the flood came they were not destroyed, because, while their fleshly bodies which they assumed might indeed perish, yet tlmy would merely dematerialize, or assume their spirit conditions again.

The record is that God cast them down, that He condemned them to an overthrow—that they might not any longer associate with the holy angels, but must be reserved in tartarus—our earth’s atmosphere. Here they were imprisoned, not in a special place, but in the sense of having their liberties restrained, "in chains of darkness.” They were no longer permitted to materialize, and thus to associate with humanity. These things are distinctly told us by St. Jude and St. Peter (Jude 6; 2 Peter 2:4, 5)—an explanation in full harmony with' the Genesis account of their fall.

Once Disobedient—Still Disobedient.

We, of course, cannot know that all of those fallen angels are still in a disloyal condition of heart. On the contrary, in harmony with our text, wo may suppose that some of these fallen angels have since repented of their wrong course, and it would be none too strong a way to -state the matter—that any such repentant ones would surely have terrible experiences as a result. To be obliged to be in close touch and relationship with the more evil and malignant ones, and to have knowledge of all their evil designs and efforts, would be a terrible experience, and, besides this, we may be -sure that the rebellious would not hesitate to persecute the repentant ones in every conceivable manner, as they would be lawless, regardless of the Divine will.

On the other hand, the repentant ones would be obliged to restrain themselves and to not render evil for evil, knowing that this would be contrary to the Divine will. In other words, repentant ones amongst those fallen spirits, influenced by the preaching of Jesus, or otherwise, would have a kind of purgatorial experience, and the very thought calls forth our sympathy.

When imprisoned or cut off from the privilege of materialization, many of the fallen spirits, we know not what proportion, continued their active opposition to God, after the manner of Satan. Hence they are spoken of as his angels, his messengers, his servants, and he is spoken of as Beelzebub, the Prince of Demons. Satan, who sinned much earlier than the others, and in a different way, the Scriptures tell us was an angel of a higher rank, or a higher nature, and this superiority of his has made him the Prince or ruler over the hosts of fallen spirits.

Fighting Against God.

The fight of Satan and his fallen angels is against God, against all who are in har-. ony with Him, against all the regulations of righteousness, and against all the channels and servants whom the Lord may use. St. Paul’s words along this line are forceful; he remarks that God’s people contend not merely “with flesh and blood,” but also “with wicked spirits in high positions,” and the question arises, “Who is sufficient for these things?” The reply is that none is sufficient; without the aid of the Redeemer His Church would be quite overcome and vanquished by evil.

Likewise, without the Redeemer’s aid through His Kingdom, without the binding of Satan, without our Lord’s releasing of the world from the bondage of sin and death, there would be no hope of the world’s recovery from its present bondage. But with the Apostle we exclaim, “If God be for us, who can ba against us?”—Romans 8:31.       ,

Through Mediums and Obsessions.

Satan’s original plan of attqck was to bring our race under his influence by misrepresentation—by putting darkness for light and light for darkness—for instance, the temptation under which Mother Eve fell. Satan there represented himself as Eve’s friend, giving her sound advice. He represented God as having a selfish motive behind His command that our first parents should not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan declared that God had told an untruth when He said that the penalty for sin would be death. Satan declared that man cannot die.

And has he not since kept up the same line of falsification? And has he not deceived the whole world upon this very subject? Do not all peoples in every land believe that when a man dies he does not die, but gets more alive—exactly Satan’s lie of the first instance? How few have believed God, even amongst His people who truly love Him, and who truly desire to believe the teachings of His Word! We have all been under a kind of "hoodoo.” "The god of this world [Satan] hath blinded” our minds on this subject. We are now coming to see that death is the penalty for sin, and that the resurrection is the s.alvation which God has promised and will provide.

Satan has had powerful allies and servants in the fallen angels, and it is through their persistence that his lie has triumphed over the Divine Word of Truth— "Dying, thou shalt die.” These fallen spirits have made various manifestations in every land for centuries, and thereby have apparently substantiated the theory that a dead man is more alive than when he was alive. Knowing that mankind would have nothing to do with them if their real personality were known, they hide their personality, and represent themselves as our dead friends who desire to speak with us, either directly or through mediums.

A further desire of these angels is to obsess or to get possession of a human being. Being chained, or restrained from the privilege of materialization, the next most desirable thing, in their estimation, is to gain control over a human being, and to use- his body instead of their own. This is styled obsession, and persons so afflicted today are sent to an insane asylum, where, it is estimated, they constitute at least one-half of the entire number. In the days of our Lord these were not mistakenly supposed to be insane, but rightly declared to be obsessed. All remember the New Testament account that our Saviour and His Apostles cast out fallen spirits from humanity.

“Know Ye Not That the Saints Shall Judge Angels?”

We need not discuss this question with Bible students, for it is too well recognized to be disputed. We suggest a topical study of this subject by all oS

(Continued on page S • dum 2)

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Published by

THE INTERNATIONAL BIBLE STUDENTS ASSOCIATION, CRAVEN TERRACE, LONDON, W.

i An Independent, Unsectarian Refl ligious Newspaper, Specially devoted " to the Forwarding of the Laymen’s | Home Missionary Movement for the 5 Glory of God and Good of Humanity.

(Continued from page 1, column 1.) instead of falling has been rising in the scale of intelligence and getting nearer to God’s image every year, all the time.

Following the Evolutionists came the Higher Critics, declaring that the Bible is really old wives’ fables and not at all inspired. Nearly all graduates of colleges and seminaries for the past twenty years have gone into pulpits, consecrated to the preaching of God’s Truth from the Bible standpoint, in violation of whatever conscience they have.

Tiiese generally are the great and popular preachers of all denominations. They consider not the vows of their ordination, but practically’say, “We do not hide our unbelief to any great extent. We answer questions of the people with a measure of candor, dodging occasionally; and if they know anything about the Bible themselves, they know that we do not believe in its inspiration. If they wish to continue us as their preachers, and to honor us and to pay our salaries, we will continue to serve them. By and by we ■will get their faith in the Bible thoroughly undermined; and then we will come out into the open. Then we will tell them that we falsified a little for their good, as a mother would tell her babe a fairy story for its entertainment.”

The preachers who are in trouble are the conscientious ones who believe the Bible to be true, and who have not yet gotten their bearings. They cannot long believe in an eternity of torture, yet are afraid to follow the course of the International Bible Students Association in a thorough Bible Study which ignores the creeds. These poor men know not what to believe, and are in great trepidation ■when a question is asked them by the people who pay them for religious advice. They carihot dig. , To beg they are ashamed. And to tell the whole truth about what they know and what they do not know respecting the Bible they are afraid. ...They Jjave. our. sympathy.

Our advice to all such is, “Tell the truth and shame the devil!” Take your stand for what truth you see, and seek for more light upon God’s Word in this glorious dawning of the New Era, in which God declares that He is pleased to give an increase of light on things Divine. “The wise shall understand, but none of the wicked [or hypocrites] shall understand.”—Daniel 12:10.

It would appear as if we are living in the time of special testing so clearly foretold by the Lord. Everything hidden would be uncovered, He said. He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness. (1 Corinthians 4:5.) If we would not be put to shame before Him, we must be honest. Who can doubt that honesty, especially in respect to God and religion, is most estimable from the Divine standpoint? None of us have anything whereof to boast. But if we are honest with our God we can look up io Him, by faith realizing that we are acceptable through Jesus Christ our Lord.

EXTRAORDINARY SERIES OF DISCOVERIES.

The twelve years ending with the discovery of the South Pole are as full of dramatic achievement as the days of Drake and Raleigh, for not even in those times was there a more extraordinary series of discoveries and conquests.

In 1900 only one man had been the length of Africa'by land, and the Cape to Cairo Railroad was but a dream. There was not a railroad across South America. A great part of Siberia was without rail or road except the old caravan trails. China was practically without railroads. Lhassa was unknown, forbidden to the white man. During a century and a half men had tried to reach the South Pole, and failed; and the North Pole had baf-. fled the efforts of 400 years.

Within a dozen years "jwhite men have traveled over the great desert, visited Lake Chad, made a protectorate over Timbuctoo. The days of the Mahdi at Khartoum are ended, and any todrist may travel there comfortably by rail. The Cape to Cairo Railroad is an assured fact. The heart of Africa is now no more remote from the popular imagination than Oklahoma City was in 1900.

In South America, the Trans^Andeari Railroad is in full operation across the continent, as the Trans-Siberian is across Asia. Even China has her railroads. Lhassa has been visited by a British army, and both poles are the common property of every fireside that boasts of books, magazines or newspapers.

Such a record may justify a feeling of pride that the spirit of conquest and adventure is as alive as ever, and accompanied with all the courage and hardihood that blessed any earlier generation.—? Exchange.

(Continued from page 1, column 4) our readers. See how many times Jesus and the Apostles cast out demons, and note the particulars. Although we still have with us spirit mediums, and many obsessed, we cannot know whether the proportionate number is greater or fewer than in our Lord’s day. Since the world’s population today is so much larger, the same number of evil spirits (which do not increase) would show proportionately less. But, however that may be, we may assume that some fruitage resulted from the great sermons preached to these in connection wjth the death and resurrection of our Lord, respecting which St. Peter tells us in our text. Additiojtally, St. Paul remarks, “Know ye not that the saints shall judge angels?” (1 Corinthians 6:3.) We do know that the holy arigels need no judging, no trial, hence the Apostle must in some way refer to a trial or judgment or testing of these spirits in prison who were once disobedient, in the days of Noah. And if the judgment or testing is a part of the Divine plan, it implies a hope for them, and in conjunction with St. Peter’s statement in our text it gives the reasonable inference that the preaching which Jesus did to them was not wholly in vain.

How Jesus Preached In Death.

Here arises another question: If Jesus was really dead, as the Scripture^ declare, if “He poured out His soul unto death,” and “made His soul an offering for sin,” and His soul was not raised from the dead until the third day after His crucifixion, how could He in the meantime preach to spirits in prison, or to anybody else? We reply that He could preach in the same way that the Apostle refers to, saying, “He, being dead, yet speaketh” (Hebrews 11:4); and again, in the same way that the blood of Abel is said to have cried to God—figuratively. Of one thing we are sure, namely, that Jesus gave no oral

THE CHRIST

OUR text is the testimony of the Apostle Peter, and must, therefore, be accepted by all believers in the Bible. Nevertheless, many of us for a long time had difficulty in our effort to harmonize this statement With the facts in the case. We said, “Where do we find the correspondence between Moses, the great lawgiver of Israel, and the Lord Jesus as his Antitype?” We read in the Law of Moses respecting the sacrifices and sin-offerings which he instituted, and in this could find foreshadowings of the ‘‘better sacrifices” of Christ; but wherein Christ fulfilled the Apostle’s statement has indeed been a difficult matter.

We said to ourselves, “In what sense can it be true that whosoever does not hear and heed Christ is ‘utterly destroyed from amongst the people’ ” ? The heathen have never heard in any sense of the word—are they utterly destroyed? The great majority of people in civilized lands have never heard in the sense here intimated, in the sense of heeding the commands of Christ; are they utterly destroyed? True, it would be far better that they should be utterly destroyed than that they should be eternally tormented, as many have imagined, but as the Scriptures do not teach. Nevertheless, would it not seem too bad that the great mass of humanity, even in our day, should thus be condemned to utter destruction because they have not heard and not heeded the voice of Christ?

The Hidden Mystery.

The Apostle repeatedly tells us about the “mystery” hid from past Ages and Dispensations, but now due to be under-etood by the saints—not by the world. (Ephesians 3:3-9.) This mystery, or secret, not generally comprehended, the Apostle explains, is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27.) In other words, he would have us understand that God’s Plan for the salvation of the world is much greater, much larger, than any of us would have suspected—that it includes, first of all, the selection of the Church of this Gospel Age as members Of the Body of the great Christ, under Jesus their Head. (Ephesians 1:22, 23.) This whole company, the Head and the members, will therefore constitute The Christ of prophecy—“like unto Moses.” So, then, only those who recognize this “mystery,” this secret, are prepared to rightly understand our text and many other matters and statements of the {Scriptures.

Our text is not yet fulfilled, but awaits fulfilment until the entire Christ (Head and Body—Christ Jesus the Head and the Church which is His Body) shall have been “raised up.” Our Lord, the Redeemer and Head, has already been exalted, and His Church for nearly 1900 years has been in process of selection, formation and testing. In the Harvest of this Gospel Age the union between the Head and the members is promised, for our Lord declared, “I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am there ye may be also.” (John 14:3.) He told us thus to expect to enter into His address while Ho was dead. He preached in the way we sometimes refer to when we say, “Actions speak louder than words.”

It was the great object lesson which the fallen angels saw that constituted to them the great sermon that gave them a ground for hope. On several occasions the fallen spirits, when commanded to come out of human beings, declared that they knew Jesus. In the long ago they had known Him, when, as the Only Begotten of the Father, and His Representative, He had created them and all things that are made, and was also the ¹ Mouthpiece for all Divine ordei i and regulations. They realized that He had come into the world to be its Redeemer; they perceived the great stoop that He had made from His lofty position on the heavenly plane to the servant position on the human plane. They admired His loyalty and faithfulness to God, but doubtless believed Him to be foolish; they never expected Him to rise from the dead. But when they perceived His resurrection on the third day, to glory, honor and immortality, “far above angels, principalities and powers and every name that is named,” pis sermon to them was complete, namely, that “the wages of sin is death,” but that "the gift of God is eternal life.” (Romans 6:23.) And as they realized thus the power of God and the love of God for His human creatures, the Apostle’s words imply that this constituted to them a message of hope. Perhaps if they would show full contrition God eventually would have mercy upon them, even as He had had mercy and had provided for humanity.

The lesson is one for all. God’s power is Infinite, so is His love, His mercy, His goodness. Nevertheless, every wilful sin will have its punishment, a just recompense of reward, and only the willing and obedient shdll have the Divine favor and everlasting life. Let each apply the lesson to himself.

PROPHECY deeds of the Law can no flesh be justified in God’s sight.”—Romans 3:20.

The Lord’s Word teaches us that the New Covenant is to be more successful than was the Law Covenant—it is to save all the willing and obedient of every nation, people, kindred and tongue. How Will it do this? Will the New Law connected with the New Covenant, and administered under the Kingdom of Christ, be less searching, less exacting than the Mosaic Law? And if the people of Israel could not rise to the requirements of Moses’ Law, because of their inherited weaknesses, will there be a modified law for the future? We answer, 'no! A perfect God could not give an imperfect Law—He could not set up a wrong standard of righteousness. What hope, then, can there be that the world’s opportunity under the New Covenant will result more favorably than did Israel’s opportunity under the Law Covenant?

We answer that the difference will consist in the fact that the New Covenant has a more competent Mediator. In this we are not calling in question the willingness of Moses to haVe done for the people of Israel all that Christ will do for the world of mankind; but with all his willingness he was incompetent, because he, like the rest of the people, was a sinner —a member of the sinner race. Christ, on the contrary, will be a competent Mediator. Adam’s disobedience brought condemnation and death against the entire race; the obedience of Jesus even unto death, paid, settled, canceled that original condemnation, according to the Divine requirement, “a life for a life,” the Second Adam for the first Adam. And as ffie condemnation of Adam proceeded to all of his posterity, so the Redemption of Adam proceeds to all of his posterity.

In other words, our Lord Jesus bought the world of mankind with His own precious blood; His own untainted, uncondemned life He gave for the World’s Ransom. By reason of this Redemptive work our Lord has the full, just right to restore, to lift up, out of sin and death conditions, through knowledge and disciplinary experiences, the whole world of mankind—so many as will obey. By thus lifting mankind up again out of sin and death, in recovering the willing and obedient from all that was lost through original sin, our Lord will prepare them for the tests of the perfect Divine Law which will come upon every one of them in the close of the Messianic Reign. But it will be a different matter for a perfect man to meet the requirements of the Divine Law than for an ftnperfect man to meet those requirements.

True, Father Adam, was a perfect man, yet failed; but his failure was due largely to an imperfect degree of knowledge. Those who will reach the close of the Millennial Age will have a clear knowledge of both good and evil. The world has gained its knowledge of evil during the 6,000 years of the prevalence of sin, and whoever will, shall, during the Messianic Reign, have full opportunity of coming to a clear knowledge of that which is good, and appreciate the difference between good and evil, and the rewards of these, so that the testing in the end of the Millehnial Age will fully justify the 7,000 years of instruction which God’s providence has arranged for Adam and his race. It is not for us to know what the proportionate number of those who shall ultimately attain eternal life and those who through disobedience to that great Prophet shall be “utterly destroyed from amongst the people” in the Second Death. We think it not unreasonable, however, to assume that fully a half of our race, or over, will gain life eternal Under the terms of the New Covenant.

Sealing the New Testament.

Some may inquire, Why the long delay .since Jesus died as the Redeemer of the world? Why did He not at once begin the work of the New Covenant, restoring the world of mankind? We answer that there are two principal reasons: First, the Lord evidently wished that the world should be filled, populated. This was the original commission given to Father Adam before he sinned: “Multiply and fill the earth.” Under the conditions of sin and death the race production has gone on rapidly, so that by now we may suppose that the whole number ever born into the world w'ould very nearly make a full population for it if it were turned as a whole into a Garden of Eden, or, as promised, into a Paradise of God. True, the Lord could raise up in the midst of the ocean other continents still larger than we now have, and possibly He may do so; but as it is, a reasonable estimate of the numbers born into the world for the past 6,000 years would make a tolerably well-populated earth. This would be one reason why the Lord would delay the establishment of the Kingdom, because with its establishment the birth-

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What did Jesus mean by His K. d words. “Verily I cay unto thee to- £ ■J] day, thou shalt be with Me in Para- F. d dise”—if Paradise, lost 6,000 years £ ago, will not' be restored until the F-J Second Coming of Jesus and the es- £ ■JJ tablishment of His Kingdom?        I ■

•J The full answer to this question ' w’e shall be pleased to send you upon > J receipt of postal-card request. Ad- ' •jj dress, Bible & Tract. Society, ■ jrf 34 Craven Terrace, London, W.

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Iff© YOU KNOW that the Lord more than two thousand years ago gave, through the Prophet Daniel, a clear description of the times in which we are now living?

DO YOU KNOW that the Bible, in referring to this present time as “ the time of the end," does not signify tbe destruction of the earth- but the end of the prosent dispensation, after which a new age will be introduced— the Millennium ?   ‘‘ The earth abideth

forever.”—Eccl. 1:4.

DO YOU KNOW have you specially noticed, the several propositions in Daniel’s prophecy concerning “the time of the end”? They read thus :—In the time of the end (1J) many shall run to and fro; (2) and knowledge shall be increased.; (3) and the wise [virgins] shall understand; (4) but none of the wicked shall understand. (5) And at that time Michael [Christ] shall stand up [begin His reign]; (6) and there siiili be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation—Dan. 12:9, 4, 10, 1.

DO YOU KNOW that according to the Scriptures “ the time of the end above mentioned began in a.d. 1799, and will aontinue until a d. 1915 ?

DO YOU KNOW that the most rapid means of communication in 1799, the beginning of ' the time of the- end,” was on horse-back, while now telephones and telegraphs unite cities, nations and continents ?    .

DO YOU KNOW that the first effective steamboat was built a.d. 1806 ? and that the first effective locomotive, the Ironsides, was built a.d, 1831 ?

DO YOU KNOW that Sir Isaac Newton, tbe great Christian philosopher, who died a.d. 1727, studying this very prophecy said, on the strength of it, “ I should not wonder if ■ome day men will travel at the rate of fifty miles an hour ?’’

DO YOU KNOW that Voltaire, the great infidel philosopher, who died a.d. 177B, when

DO YOU KNOW that knowledge io greatly increased, in harmony with the prophecy ?— and can you not discern such plain signs of the times in which we are now living ?

DO YOU KNOW that less than four centuries ago illiteracy was so general that the English Parliament passed a law providing for those of its members who were enable to read; while now ability to read and vrite is general, even amongst the poorest classes ?

DO YOU KNOW that free schools were started as Sunday Schools in 1784, and hence shat knowledge began to increase greatly with “ the time of the end, ’ 1799 ?

DO YOU KNOW that not a single one on the now many large Bible Societies or Tract Societies was started until 1804, because only then was there much use for reading matter for the masses ?

DO YOU KNOW that a right understanding of God’s Word not only adds to the wisdom of the wise, but also “ maketh wisi the simple ? ”—Psa. 19:7,

DO YOU KNOW that God promised that in this “ time of the end,’⁹ in which we are things of His plan and Word ?—And do you wish to be one of God’s humble “wise virgins?” —1 Cor. 3:18-20.

DO YOU KNOW that the present tocial order is not thoroughly satisfactory to any good men —rich or poor—although no human instrumentality is able to arrange for and introduce a better one ?

DO YOU KNOW that Christ will introduce a better, a perfect, social arrangement during the Millennium; and that He taught us to expect, watch for, and pray for that Kingdom; saying, “ Pray ye,—Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven?” If you have sincerely joined in that prayer, you will rejoice in the evidences that its ful-

declares that these times of blessing will not precede, but will follow, the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus ?

DO YOU KNOW that the prophecies and signs which now herald the second advent of Christ are mucL more distinct than were those signs and prophecies which marked His first advent ?

DO YOU KNOW that the driving of the Jews out of all nations and the resettlement •f many of them in Palestine, now in progress, is another sign of the close of the Gospel age and the dawn of the Millennium ?—Jer. 16:15;

DO YOU KNOW that the Second Coming expectation as was His first advent? and that His day will eome upon theworld unawares— that they will be “in Hit da/yt" and that only the wise will know it ?

DO YOU KNOW that the object of the Second Coming of Christ, as well as its manner, is generally misunderstood?—that His coming, according to the Scriptures, means the blessing of all the families of the earth ?

DO YOU KNOW' that the Church which God is electing or selecting during this Gospel age is promised a spiritual or heavenly reward ?—to be “made partakers of the divine nature ” (2 Pet. 1:4), and to share with Christ the work of blessing the world during the Millennium, but that the Lord's provision

Millennial age is a restitution or restoration of the perfections of human nature (lost by sin), in Paradise restored--the new earth ?—= Aois 3:19 21; Bev. ,21:1-4.

DO YOU KNOW that the Day of Judgment will be a thousand-year-day, and not a twenty-four-hour-day ?—and that the word judgment implies, not merely a sentence, but also a trial ? ,

DO YOU KNOW that during the world’s great day of trial or judgment (the Millennium) the Church now being eelected from among men will be, with Christ, the Judges of the World? (1 Cor. 6:2)—that to prepare be able to sympathise with those whom they will then Judge?—and that they shall be kings and priests of God and, as Abraham’s seed, blest all the families of the earth?—Rev.20:4, Gal. 3:16, 29; Gen. 22:18.

DO YOU KNOW that not all who worship and say '* Lord, Lord ” shall enter into or be members of that elect Church ? (Matt. 7-21-23) -=t&at nwf’fnll who Fave their names upon faithfulness, will constitute the one Church

of the living God.—in all a “ little flock ? ’— Heb. 12:23; Rev. 3:<; 1     . 3:i5;Luke 12:32.

DO YOU KNC ‘   ■   11 the members of

the Church so             ■< obationary members, waiting          ; and hoping for full

membership in _r // _,h triumphant at ths first resurrectio:          20:4.

DO YOU KNOW foat the large majority of humanity have never had any trial, because they died in total ignorance of the only name given whereby they can be saved ?

DO YOU KNOW that thr. Apostle Paul declares that there is one mediator between

DO YOU KNOW that while to many of us the “ due time ” to learn of this grace of God is during the present life, yet to the va t majority this “ due time ” must be in a futme life ; because less than one-third of the human family have ever heard of, so that they covd believe on, the only name “ under he*v o given among men, whereby we may be saved?"' Acts 4:12.

DO YOU KNOW that the Millennial age >9 for the very purpose of causing the knowb-dtu of the Lord to fill the whole earth as the waters cover the sea, and to open the ey»*s of men’s understandings and to unstop their es • s that they may hear God’s message of mercy and see “ the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world I"—Isa. 11 9s 35:5; John 1:9.

DO YOU KNOW that some living in civilized lands have never had a full knowledge of the gospel with a full opportunity to show whether they would choose righteousness oi sin, because they have had comparatively little knowledge of righteousness, by either experience or observation, and great ex perience only with sin, within and without ?

DO YOU KNOW that our Lord Jesus paid the great price for all; to secure for all a full oppobtunity to gain everlasting life by faith and obedience?—I Tim. 2:6; Acts3:22, 23.

the sins of the whole world ?”—1 John 2:2.

DO YOU KNOW that the Bible teacher both the doctrine of Election and the doctrine of Free Grace?—the election of the Church during this age, and free grace for the world in general in the Millennial age? and that this harmony, of these two doctrines so long supposed to be in conflict, can be clearly shown from tb« SoripiurM f                    *

I.B.S.A. FREE LECTURES